Course for Young Doctors
GA 316
11 March 1924, Dornach
Appendix
Dear Friends:
We are sending this first circular to medical people who have ties with us, since we promised to do this during the Christmas conference, when we discussed the direction of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum. It is borne by the sentiments which united us during these medical courses after New Year's Day. It would most of all like to add some of that sympathy for suffering humanity to each word, from which not only the devotion to the art of healing but also its real power must proceed.
It was in ancient times,
There lived in the initiates' souls
Powerfully the thought, that ill
By nature is every human being.
And educating was regarded
Akin to the healing process
Which to the child maturing
Brought health along the way
For life's fulfilled humanity.
If one wants to prepare one's soul for the grasping of curative effects through the right kind of inner concentration it is good to place such powerful thoughts and views from an old instinctive wisdom before one's soul.
Let us remember that the healing process has to be given a soul, since it must be directed towards a soul and not just towards a body. The more of such thoughts young physicians understand, the more of what thoughtful physicians yearn for will flow into medical life and patients will feel this to be a blessing when they experience the enhanced state of the physician's art in the healing process.
Dear friends, those of you who were assembled here in January received what wanted to approach you out of such sentiments with open hearts. We will never forget how this spoke to us from your eyes and how this pressed towards us from your warm words. Our thoughts remained with you, and they shall move towards you today for the first time in connection with the questions you asked. We are sending the following to selected addresses, and we ask those who receive a direct mailing from us to see to it that they get to the other addresses we listed.
Answers to Questions
1. With regard to a question about the difficulties which pre-med students have today in studying both school medicine and the medicine in the Anthroposophical movement, we can only reply that we will try to gradually eliminate these difficulties through what we write in these circulars. Dr. Wegman is prepared to give the meditation which was described in the letter as a supplementary one to anyone who feels a need for it.
2. Concerning studies at the Goetheanum. We ask you to be patient with respect to practical studies, although of course we will try to make them available. We will indicate in these circulars when you can begin to make applications.
3. With respect to the question of the suggestion of particular themes for co-workers at the Medical Section for spiritual science, we remark that we would like to begin work in this direction. But we will mainly be able to negotiate about such themes through individual correspondence, and not so much through inserts in this circular. However, we request that you be a little patient here also; we will get closer and closer to our goals but we can only proceed one step at a time. We would also like to add that therapeutic questions about special cases will not be answered in the circular anymore after this. However, we welcome questions of a special therapeutic nature which refer to the medical courses which were given here, and also questions which refer to physiological and anatomical problems, study, and the moral attitude of physicians.
4. To those people who asked whether they could participate in any work here at the school in the near future, perhaps after they have taken their exams, we would like to say that three to five more lectures will be given after the Easter lectures, in which interested people can receive guidelines for their further work. The theme will be the human being and orientation with respect to education and healing in the world and also with respect to the particularly important tasks of humanity in this area.
5. Although the direct dispensation of our medicaments to patients by physicians would no doubt be desirable, it cannot be done at the moment, because the laws say that only homeopathic medicines can be dispensed in this way by city physicians. Once we are in the same position as these homeopathic physicians (that is, with respect to legal recognition), we will be able to do the same. Meanwhile we will have to be satisfied with indirect dispensations by way of pharmacists.
6. Concerning the question about whether a patient should be told how the medication works, we can say that the effect is reduced if a knowledge of it enters into his thinking. However, the deleterious effect is less if the thoughts are merely intellectual ones, greater if they are pictorial and the greatest if the patient can follow the whole course of the healing in himself. But this should neither keep the physician from giving information about the way the treatment works nor should he withhold a cure from a knowing patient. For what is lost through the knowledge can be completely regained if the patient develops some reverence for the healing methods. One has to see to this when one informs them.
7. Question about the kind of injections. As a rule, injections would be given subcutaneously, but if the patient doesn't react to these after repeated attempts, one can inject highly potentized doses intravenously. In this case one has to wait and see what the effect of the first injection is.
8. The writer of a letter speaks of two lines, one of which runs along the spinal column, while the other goes down from the head in the hyoid bone to the arch of the lower jaw to the thyroid cartilage and then to the side of the ribs. He wondered what significance the direction of these two lines has. The latter line corresponds to what an animal's astral body forms out of solid substances. In man this line is brought into a slanting angle with the vertical by his upright posture. This is aligned by the ego organization, and, namely, in such a way that the earthly ego works in a hypertrophic way along the dorsal vertebrae; the developing ego which remains after death aligns the cartilaginous part of the ribs and the breast bone in a hypertrophic way. Since the human element is left out in spiritual beings like Lucifer, his spinal column, breast bone and the cartilaginous part of his ribs must be eliminated. This is why the writer of the question saw a peaked chest and a lateral tendency in the ribs of the Lucifer sculpture.
9. We have the following to say with regard to a question about the head's hollows and their significance. The physical and etheric parts of the head are arranged in such a way that the physical predominates in certain places and the etheric in others. The latter are the real bearers of thoughts, whereas the physical, completely filled out parts are bearers of life in the head and suppressors of thought experiences. If their activity is too great dizziness, hallucinations and the like arise.
10. Concerning a question about mediumistic talents. The mediumistic talents of certain people are based on an incomplete insertion of the astral body and ego into the metabolic-limb tract of the etheric and physical bodies when these people are in a trance. Thereby, the limbs and the lower torso are inserted into the etheric and astral environment in an irregular way as a kind of a sense organ. This results in perceptions of spiritual things, but at the same time the moral and conventional impulses which ordinarily work through these organs are excluded, just as they are excluded in other sense organs. Our eyes see blue, but not slanders. It is very difficult to cure mediums by physical means. They could only be cured by injections of highly potentized tobacco in some part of a sense organ, for instance, inside a Eustachian tube or in the eye's cornea, which of course is very dangerous. A psychic healing requires that the healer have a stronger will than the medium outside of the trance condition and that he can work through waking suggestion.
11. Concerning a question about whether one is interfering with the karmas of mother and child if one saves the mother through an abortion, we can say that one can hardly speak of an intervention in their karmas, since both karmas will be directed into other channels for a short time but will soon be brought back into the right direction by the natural course of events. On the other hand, there is a strong intervention in the karma of the one who does the operation. And he has to ask himself whether he really wants to do something which brings him into karmic connections which would not have existed without the intervention. But questions of this kind depend upon the particular circumstances and cannot be answered in general, like many other things in purely psychological cultural life which constitute an intervention in karma and which can lead to serious and tragic conflicts in life.
12. Concerning a question about cod liver oil. Cod liver oil can be avoided if the basis for the corresponding disorder is diagnosed and one uses things like our Waldon I = plant proteins and plant fats, Waldon II = proteins and fats of plants and iron silicate, and Waldon III = plant proteins and fats, iron silicate and calcarea carbonica.
13. Even a single injection of Belladonna D30 and Hyoscyamus D15 will be helpful for wounds which have come into contact with the ground.
14. Concerning a thirty-five-year-old diabetic. The rosemary cure would probably be best for this diabetic. It might also help to give Silicea D10.
15. A question about the treatment of ear noises (tinnitus). The general recommendation for tinnitus is poppy juice D6. One will gradually be able to bring about a subjective cure if the patient exerts enough force to transform the passive experience of the noises into an active ideation, as if he did this himself. Noises in the ears are based on a weakening of the astral body relative to the etheric body in the bladder region.
16. Question about a case of flu in the brain with subsequent symptoms. One would have to try to inject Agaricus muscarius D30 into the thirty-eight-year-old patient with aftereffects of flu, which do not react to the medicaments used, and see to it that a confident, cheerful mood is maintained after the injection.
Signed:
Rudolf Steiner
Dr. Ita Wegman
Erster Rundbrief im Anschluß an den Weihnachtskursus für der Medizin Beflissene
Unseren, einem Versprechen gleichkommenden Mitteilungen über die Führung der Medizinischen Sektion am Goetheanum, die wir gelegentlich der Weihnachtstagung gemacht haben, nachkommend, senden wir an die für die Pflege des Medizinischen mit uns Verbundenen diesen ersten Rundbrief. Er ist getragen von der Gesinnung, die uns bei den medizinischen Kursen im Neujahr vereinte. Er möchte am liebsten jedem Worte etwas mitgeben von den Gefühlen für die leidende Menschheit, aus dem allein nicht nur die Hingabe an die Heilkunst, sondern auch deren wirkliche Kraft hervorgehen muß.
Es war in alten Zeiten,
Da lebte in der Eingeweihten Seelen
Kraftvoll der Gedanke, daß krank
Von Natur ein jeglicher Mensch sei.
Und Erziehen ward angesehen
Gleich dem Heilprozeß,
Der dem Kinde mit dem Reifen
Die Gesundheit zugleich erbrachte
Für des Lebens vollendetes Menschsein.
Es ist gut, solch kraftvolle Gedanken, gewonnen aus der Anschauung alter instinktiver Weisheit, sich vor die Seele treten zu lassen, wenn man in rechter innerlicher Sammlung die Seele bereiten will zum Erfassen der Heileswirkungen.
Vergessen wir nicht, daß dem Heilprozesse eine Seele mitgegeben werden muß, da er nicht nur an einen Körper, sondern auch an eine Seele sich wenden muß. Je mehr solche Gedanken die jungen Ärzte be- greifen, desto mehr wird in das medizinische Leben das einfließen, was der sinnige Arzt sehnsüchtig verlangt, wenn er den heutigen Stand seiner Kunst mit den Grenzen empfindet, was der Kranke wie eine Gnade empfinden wird, wenn er es im Heilprozesse erlebt.
Liebe Freunde, Ihr habt, soweit Ihr im Januar hier versammelt wart, offenen Herzens entgegengenommen, was aus solcher Gesinnung an Euch herantreten wollte. Uns wird unvergeßlich sein, wie aus Euern Augen dies gesprochen, aus Euern warmen Worten dies zu uns gedrungen ist. Unsere Gedanken weilten bei Euch, und sie sollen heute zum ersten Male in Anknüpfung an Eure gestellten Fragen zu Euch hinwandeln.
Wir senden das Folgende an einzelne Adressen und bitten digjenigen, die von uns direkte Sendung erhalten, dafür zu sorgen, daß sie weitergehen an die von uns mitgeteilten Adressen.
Goetheanum, den 11. März 1924
Fragenbeantwortung
I. Auf eine Anfrage bezüglich der Schwierigkeiten, die heute der angehende Arzt sowohl beim Studium der Schulmedizin, wie auch der medizinischen Kurse in der anthroposophischen Bewegung hat, können wir nur erwidern, daß es gerade unsere Bemühung sein wird, durch die Mitteilung dieser Rundbriefe diese Schwierigkeiten im Laufe der Zeit hinwegzuschaffen. Die Meditation, die in der Zuschrift als ergänzende bezeichnet ist, ist Dr. Wegman bereit denen zu geben, die darnach Bedürfnis haben.
II. Das Studium im Goetheanum betreffend.
Für das praktische Studium soll selbstverständlich nach Möglichkeit gesorgt werden, doch bitten wir in bezug darauf um Geduld. Wir werden in diesen Rundbriefen die Zeit angeben, von der ab Anmeldungen möglich sind.
III. Bezüglich der Anfrage nach Stellung bestimmter Themen für Mitarbeiter an der medizinischen Sektion [der Hochschule] für Geisteswissenschaft bemerken wir, daß wir gerne die Arbeit in diese Richtung bringen möchten. Doch wird es sich weniger durch Einfügung in diesen Rundbrief, als vielmehr in brieflichem Einzelverkehr machen lassen, über solche Themen zu verhandeln. Doch bitten wir auch hier etwas Geduld zu haben; wir werden unseren Zielen immer näher kommen, doch können wir nur Schritt für Schritt vorgehen. — Auch möchten wir hinzufügen, daß in Zukunft therapeutische Fragen, die für ganz spezielle Fälle gestellt werden, in dem Rundbrief nicht beantwortet werden. Fragen allgemein therapeutischer Art, die in Bezug auf die stattgehabten medizinischen Kurse gestellt werden, sind uns natürlich willkommen, sowie Fragen, die sich auf physiologische und anatomische Probleme, auf das Studium, auf menschlich moralische Einstellung des Arztes beziehen.
IV. Für diejenigen Persönlichkeiten, die bei uns angefragt haben, ob sie in nächster Zeit zur Anteilnahme an Arbeiten der Hochschule hierherkommen können, oder die — etwa nach Ablegung ihres Examens - einen dahingehenden Wunsch haben, bemerken wir, daß in unmittelbarem Anschluß an die Ostervorträge vom 19.-22. April drei bis fünf weitere Vorträge gehalten werden sollen, in denen die Betreffenden zunächst Richtlinien für ihr Weiterarbeiten erhalten können. Thema: Menschenwesen und Weltorientierung im Hinblick auf Erziehung und Heilung, sowie auf die zunächst besonders wichtigen Menschheitsaufgaben auf diesem Gebiete.
V. Die Einrichtung von Hausapotheken mit unseren Mitteln wäre ja zweifellos wünschenswert, kann aber vorläufig nicht durchgeführt werden, da gesetzlich bloß die homöopathischen Mittel von den Stadtärzten selbstdispensterend verabreicht werden können. Wenn wir einmal in der gleichen Lage sind, wie diese homöopathischen Ärzte (d. h. in Bezug auf gesetzliche Anerkennung), so werden wir auch dasselbe tun können. Vorerst müssen wir uns begnügen, die Mittel auf dem Apothekenwege zu vermitteln.
VI. Auf die Anfrage, ob dem Patienten Mitteilungen über die Heilmittel-Wirkungsweise gemacht werden sollen, kann gesagt werden, daß die Wirkung allerdings beeinträchtigt wird, wenn das Wissen davon in Gedanken aufgenommen wird. Doch ist die Beeinträchtigung weniger stark, wenn die Gedanken nur intellektualistisch sind, stärker, wenn sie bildhaft sind, am stärksten, wenn der Patient den ganzen Verlauf der Heilung in sich selbst zu verfolgen im Stande ist. Doch darf dies weder abhalten, über die Wirkungsweise jede gewünschte Aufklärung zu geben, noch einem wissenden Patienten die Heilung vorzuenthalten. Denn was durch das Wissen verloren geht, kann vollkommen wiedergewonnen werden, wenn der Patient Ehrfurcht vor den Heilmethoden entwickelt. Dafür muß bei der Mitteilung gesorgt werden.
VII. Frage nach der Art der Injektionen.
Die Injektion soll in der Regel unter die Haut gemacht werden; nur wenn der Patient bei wiederholten Versuchen nicht reagiert, soll intravenös injiziert werden, in hochpotenzierten Dosen. Die Wirkung der ersten Injektion muß in diesem Fall abgewartet werden.
VIII. In einer Zuschrift wird von zwei Linien gesprochen, von denen die eine in der Richtung der Wirbelsäule, die andere vom Kopfe abwärts läuft und Zungenbein, Unterkieferbogen, Schildknorpel, seitlichen 'Teil der Rippen angibt. Und die Frage geht dahin, welche Bedeutung diese Linienrichtung hat. Letztere Linie entspricht dem, was beim Tiere durch den Astralleib aus den festesten Substanzen herausgeformt wird. Beim Menschen wird diese Linie durch die aufrechte Haltung in jene Richtung gebracht, in der sie einen schiefen Winkel mit der Vertikalen bildet. Dies wird durch die Ich-Organisation orientiert, und zwar so, daß im Verlaufe der Rückenwirbel das irdische Ich gewissermaßen hypertrophisch wirkt; das sich formende Ich, das dann nach dem Tode bleibt, orientiert den Knorpelteil der Rippen und das Brustbein hypertrophisch. Weil bei solchen geistigen Wesen, wie Luzifer, das Menschliche übersprungen wird, muß sowohl die Rückensäule, wie der Knorpelteil der Rippen mit dem Brustbein wegfallen. Deshalb hat der Fragesteller an der Luzifer-Plastik eine spitze Brust und seitliche Rippentendenz gesehen.
IX. Bezüglich einer Frage über die Höhlen des Kopfes und ihre Bedeutung haben wir das Folgende zu sagen: der physische und ätherische Teil des Kopfes sind in der Art angeordnet, daß an gewissen Stellen das Physische, an anderen Stellen das Ätherische überwiegt, an diesen Stellen zeigen sich die Höhlen. Sie sind die eigentlichen Gedankenträger, während die physisch voll ausgefüllten Stellen die Träger des Lebens im Kopfe und die Unterdrücker des Gedankenlebens sind. Ist deren Tätigkeit zu stark, tritt Ohnmacht oder Halluzination und dergleichen ein.
X. Bezüglich der Frage über mediale Veranlagung.
Die mediale Anlage eines Menschen beruht darauf, daß eine nicht volle Einschaltung von Astralleib und Ich in den Unterleibs- und Gliedmaßentrakt des ätherischen und physischen Leibes im Trancezustand vorhanden ist. Dadurch werden die Gliedmaßen und der Unterleib in einer unregelmäßigen Art in die ätherische und astrale Umwelt gewissermaßen als Sinnesorgane eingeschaltet. Es kommen dadurch geistige Wahrnehmungen zustande; es werden aber zur gleichen Zeit die moralischen und konventionellen Impulse, die normal durch diese Organe wirken, ausgeschaltet, wie sie auch bei dem gewöhnlichen Sinnesorgane ausgeschaltet sind. Das Auge sieht blau, aber nicht Verleumdungen. Eine physische Heilung der Medien ist außerordentlich schwer zu bewirken. Sie könnte nur herbeigeführt werden durch hochpotenzierte Tabakinjektionen in den Teil eines Sinnesorgans, zum Beispiel in das Innere der Eustachischen Trompete oder in der Hornhaut des Auges, was natürlich sehr gefährlich ist. Eine psychische Heilung erfordert unbedingt, daß der Heiler einen stärkeren Willen hat als das Medium außer der Trance und daß er durch Wachsuggestion wirken kann.
XI. Auf die Frage, ob man bei Schwangerschaftsunterbrechung, die man zur Rettung der Mutter vornimmt, in das Karma der Mutter und in das Karma des Kindes eingreift, ist zu sagen: daß beide Karmas zwar in kurzer Zeit in andere Bahnen gelenkt, aber bald wieder durch den Eigenverlauf in die entsprechende Richtung gebracht werden, so daß von dieser Seite von einem Eingreifen in das Karma kaum gesprochen werden kann. Dagegen findet ein starker Eingriff in das Karma des Operierenden statt. Und dieser hat sich zu fragen, ob er vollbewußt auf sich nehmen will, was ihn in karmische Verbindungen bringt, die ohne den Eingriff nicht dagewesen wären. Fragen dieser Art sind aber nicht generell zu beantworten, sondern hängen von der Besonderheit des Falles ab, gleich manchem, das ja auch im rein seelischen Kulturleben einen Eingriff in das Karma bedeutet und zu tiefen, tragischen Lebenskonflikten führen kann.
XII. Eine Frage Lebertran betreffend.
Lebertran kann vermieden werden, wenn die Grundlagen des entsprechenden Übels diagnostiziert und unsere angegebenen Mittel verwendet werden: wie
Waldon I: Pflanzeneiweiß, Pflanzenfett.
Waldon I: Pflanzeneiweiß, Pflanzenfett, kieselsaures Eisen.
Waldon III: Pflanzeneiweiß, Pflanzenfett, kieselsaures Eisen u. Calcarea carbonica.
XIII. Bei Verletzten, die mit dem Erdboden in Berührung gekommen sind, wird Belladonna D 30 zusammen mit Hyoscyamus D 15 schon nützen, selbst wenn nur eine einzige Injektion gemacht wird.
XIV. Den Fall eines 35jährigen Diabetikers betreffend.
Für diesen Diabetiker dürfte die Rosmarin-Kur zweifellos die beste sein. Sie könnte noch dadurch unterstützt sein, daß man Kieselsäure in 10. Dezimale gibt.
XV. Eine Frage über die Behandlung von Ohrensausen.
Für Ohrensausen ist im allgemeinen therapeutisch zu empfehlen Mohnsaft in 6. Dezimale. Psychisch wird, wenn die Persönlichkeit genügend Kraft aufbringt, die passive Hingabe an das Sausen in aktives Vorstellen umzuwandeln, als ob man dieses selbst bewirkte, nach einiger Zeit eine Besserung herbeigeführt werden können. Das Ohrensausen beruht auf einem Schwachwerden des Astralleibes gegenüber dem Ätherleibe im Blasengebiet.
XVI. Frage über einen Fall von Hirngrippe mit Folgeerscheinungen.
Man müßte versuchen, den 38jährigen Patienten mit den Folgen der Grippe, der auf die angewendeten Mittel nicht reagiert, mit Fliegenschwamm D 30 zu injizieren und dafür sorgen, daß nach der Injektion eine zuversichtlich heitere Stimmung vorhanden ist.
sig. Rudolf Steiner
sig. Dr. I. Wegman
First newsletter following the Christmas course for those interested in medicine
Following up on our announcements regarding the leadership of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, which we made during the Christmas conference, we are sending this first newsletter to those who are connected with us in the field of medicine. It is inspired by the spirit that united us during the medical courses in the New Year. It would like to convey to everyone something of the feelings for suffering humanity, from which not only devotion to the art of healing but also its real power must emerge.
It was in ancient times,
There lived in the souls of the initiated
The powerful thought that sick
By nature every human being is.
And education was regarded
As equal to the healing process,
Which, with maturity, brought the child
Health at the same time
For the completion of human life.
It is good to allow such powerful thoughts, gained from the insight of ancient instinctive wisdom, to come before the soul if one wants to prepare the soul in right inner concentration to grasp the healing effects.
Let us not forget that the healing process must be given a soul, since it must address not only the body but also the soul. The more young doctors grasp such thoughts, the more what the sensible doctor longs for will flow into medical life when he senses the limitations of the current state of his art, which the sick person will experience as a blessing when he experiences it in the healing process.
Dear friends, when you gathered here in January, you accepted with open hearts what this attitude sought to convey to you. We will never forget how this was expressed in your eyes and conveyed to us in your warm words. Our thoughts were with you, and today, for the first time, they shall return to you in response to the questions you have asked.
We are sending the following to individual addresses and ask those who receive it directly from us to ensure that it is forwarded to the addresses we have provided.
Goetheanum, March 11, 1924
Answers to questions
I. In response to a question regarding the difficulties that prospective doctors face today in studying conventional medicine as well as medical courses in the anthroposophical movement, we can only reply that it will be our endeavor to overcome these difficulties over time by communicating these circular letters. Dr. Wegman is willing to give the meditation described in the letter as supplementary to those who need it.
II. Regarding studies at the Goetheanum.
Practical studies will of course be provided as far as possible, but we ask for your patience in this regard. We will indicate in these circular letters the date from which registrations will be possible.
III. Regarding the request for certain topics for employees of the Medical Section [of the School of Spiritual Science], we would like to point out that we would be happy to work in this direction. However, it will be easier to discuss such topics in individual correspondence rather than in this newsletter. But we ask for your patience here as well; we will continue to move closer to our goals, but we can only proceed step by step. — We would also like to add that in future, therapeutic questions asked for very specific cases will not be answered in the newsletter. Questions of a general therapeutic nature relating to the medical courses that have taken place are of course welcome, as are questions relating to physiological and anatomical problems, to the study, and to the human moral attitude of the physician.
IV. For those individuals who have inquired whether they can come here in the near future to participate in the work of the university, or who—perhaps after completing their exams—have a desire to do so, we would like to note that immediately following the Easter lectures from April 19 to 22, three to five additional lectures will be held, in which those concerned can first receive guidelines for their further work. Topic: Human beings and world orientation with regard to education and healing, as well as the initially particularly important tasks for humanity in this field.
V. The establishment of home medicine cabinets with our remedies would undoubtedly be desirable, but cannot be implemented for the time being, as only homeopathic remedies can be dispensed by city doctors themselves according to the law. Once we are in the same position as these homeopathic doctors (i.e., in terms of legal recognition), we will also be able to do the same. For the time being, we must content ourselves with obtaining the remedies through pharmacies.
VI. In response to the question of whether patients should be informed about how the remedies work, it can be said that their effectiveness is indeed impaired if this knowledge is absorbed in the mind. However, the impairment is less severe if the thoughts are only intellectual, more severe if they are pictorial, and most severe if the patient is able to follow the entire course of healing within themselves. However, this should not prevent us from providing any desired information about the mode of action, nor should it prevent us from withholding healing from a knowledgeable patient. For what is lost through knowledge can be completely regained if the patient develops reverence for the healing methods. This must be ensured when providing information.
VII. Question about the type of injections.
The injection should generally be made under the skin; only if the patient does not respond to repeated attempts should it be injected intravenously, in highly potent doses. In this case, the effect of the first injection must be awaited.
VIII. A letter mentions two lines, one running in the direction of the spine and the other running down from the head, indicating the hyoid bone, lower jaw, thyroid cartilage, and lateral part of the ribs. The question is what significance this line direction has. The latter line corresponds to what is formed in animals by the astral body from the most solid substances. In humans, this line is brought into that direction by the upright posture, where it forms an oblique angle with the vertical. This is oriented by the ego organization in such a way that, in the course of the vertebrae, the earthly ego appears hypertrophic, so to speak; the forming ego, which then remains after death, orients the cartilaginous part of the ribs and the sternum hypertrophically. Because such spiritual beings as Lucifer bypass the human aspect, both the spine and the cartilaginous part of the ribs with the sternum must be omitted. This is why the questioner saw a pointed chest and lateral rib tendency in the Lucifer sculpture.
IX. Regarding a question about the cavities of the head and their significance, we have the following to say: the physical and etheric parts of the head are arranged in such a way that in certain places the physical predominates, in other places the etheric predominates, and in these places the cavities appear. They are the actual carriers of thought, while the physically fully filled areas are the carriers of life in the head and the suppressors of thought life. If their activity is too strong, fainting or hallucinations and the like occur.
X. Regarding the question about mediumistic predisposition.
A person's mediumistic predisposition is based on the fact that, in a trance state, the astral body and the ego are not fully integrated into the abdominal and limb tract of the etheric and physical bodies. As a result, the limbs and abdomen are irregularly integrated into the etheric and astral environment, acting as sensory organs, so to speak. This results in spiritual perceptions; at the same time, however, the moral and conventional impulses that normally act through these organs are switched off, just as they are switched off in the ordinary sense organs. The eye sees blue, but not slander. Physical healing of mediums is extremely difficult to achieve. It could only be brought about by highly potent tobacco injections into part of a sensory organ, for example into the interior of the Eustachian tube or into the cornea of the eye, which is of course very dangerous. Psychic healing absolutely requires that the healer have a stronger will than the medium outside of trance and that he be able to work through waking suggestion.
XI. In response to the question of whether terminating a pregnancy in order to save the mother's life interferes with the karma of the mother and the karma of the child, it must be said that although both karmas are diverted into different paths for a short time, they are soon brought back into the appropriate direction by their own course, so that from this point of view one can hardly speak of interference with karma. On the other hand, there is a strong interference in the karma of the operator. And the operator must ask himself whether he wants to consciously take on what brings him into karmic connections that would not have existed without the intervention. Questions of this kind cannot be answered in general terms, but depend on the particular circumstances of the case, similar to many things that also constitute an intervention in karma in purely spiritual cultural life and can lead to deep, tragic conflicts in life.
XII. A question concerning cod liver oil.
Cod liver oil can be avoided if the causes of the corresponding ailment are diagnosed and our recommended remedies are used: such as
Waldon I: Vegetable protein, vegetable fat.
Waldon I: Vegetable protein, vegetable fat, silicic acid iron.
Waldon III: Vegetable protein, vegetable fat, silicic acid iron, and calcarea carbonica.
XIII. For injured persons who have come into contact with the ground, Belladonna D 30 together with Hyoscyamus D 15 will be beneficial, even if only a single injection is given.
XIV. Concerning the case of a 35-year-old diabetic.
For this diabetic, the rosemary cure is undoubtedly the best. It could be supported by adding silicic acid in 10th decimal.
XV. A question about the treatment of ringing in the ears.
For tinnitus, poppy juice in 6 decimal is generally recommended as a treatment. Psychologically, if the personality can muster enough strength to transform passive surrender to the ringing into active imagination, as if one were causing it oneself, an improvement can be brought about after some time. The ringing in the ears is due to a weakening of the astral body in relation to the etheric body in the bladder area.
XVI. Question about a case of brain flu with sequelae.
One should try to inject the 38-year-old patient with the aftereffects of influenza, who is not responding to the remedies used, with Fly Sponge D 30 and ensure that a confident, cheerful mood prevails after the injection.
sig. Rudolf Steiner
sig. Dr. I. Wegman